These are the sermons that I preach each week. And some other things, too.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

A Prayer

Father,

How good it is to
know that You are the God who rules this world. Even from before it was
created, You decided what would happen. So, every event, from the most
momentous to the most forgettable, is a part of Your glorious plan. And that
means that the goal has already been decided, too. All of this will result in
making You look good. And we get to enjoy what that means also. This prologue
of history will become an amazing first chapter of the rest of Your story.

But Father, it's
just that right now doesn't look so good. We can see, all around us, the signs
of a culture that is in the process of dying. To be sure, the '50's weren't any
golden age. There were problems back then also, lots of them. But at least there
were some basics that pretty much everyone agreed on.

Everyone agreed on
what it meant to be a man and what it meant to be a woman. Marriages may have
struggled and even failed, but at least everyone knew what a marriage was
supposed to be. Babies weren't always planned and loved, but we all knew that
killing them was just wrong. And while there wasn't agreement on everything,
most understood that there was still some room for discussion about where there
was disagreement. These sorts of things were generally accepted back then, but
they aren't so generally accepted now. There are great divisions, seeming
unbridgeable divisions. And it was Jesus who said that a kingdom divided
against itself won't last.

So, here we are, in
this situation, a situation that You decreed, a situation that will, sooner or
later, result in the glorious goal that You intend, but a situation that, right
now, doesn't look very good.

So, Father, seeing
all of this, we have some requests. We know that You have placed us in this
situation for a reason. We have different roles to play here so that, at some
point or other, it all gets to the goal. So, help us, Father. First, help us to
understand what it is that You want us to do. We hear from all sorts what we
should be doing. But we want to be sure to hear from You. What do You want us
to do? And then, help us to do exactly that. We know that there will be pain
associated with this. Jesus told us about that also. Help us to bear that pain
as Christians, crying out to You for the ability to continue faithful even in
the midst of that suffering. And help us, Father, to prepare our children for
what likely awaits them, that they also would be faithful, even when it hurts.

It may well be that
You are clearing away what is worthless so that what is precious would be seen
and loved. Use us to do our part so that what will replace what we see now will
be a culture where You are honored and loved, and Your truth is submitted to.
It is unlikely that we will see such a culture in our days, but there are
things for us to do so that in somebody's days such a culture will exist. Help
us in this.

We know that the day
will dawn, when everything will arrive at the goal. The day will come when
every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, and all of
that to Your glory. And that is when all the troubles and struggles will be
over, and we will enjoy life indeed. We thank You, Father, for that hope.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.